Weekly Update
Wayne Township LAP 10/4/19
WIDA Can Do Descriptors
WIDA's Can Do Descriptors are a helpful resource to teachers. These charts show what English learners "can do" at different proficiency levels by grade level clusters (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grades 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12). Because they help teachers understand what students can be expected to do at different stages of English acquisition, they are are very useful for lesson planning as well as differentiating assignments and assessments.
Growing Readers Monthly Tips for Parents
Looking for content for your school webpage or newsletters? Reading Rockets offers Growing Readers, monthly tips written especially for parents to encourage families to "raise strong readers and writers." Schools can distribute these tips at family nights or in parent flyers. They are available in English and Spanish and include early literacy topics such as Creating a Home Library, Building Your Child's Vocabulary, and Preschoolers and Sleep. Information about Growing Readers can be found here.
Digital Feedback for Writing
Providing written comments for every student’s essay can be difficult for teachers. Free writing software programs like Grammarly and Hemingway Editor can help by giving students feedback about their writing, such as showing grammar or usage mistakes, providing more correct options, and suggesting ways to make writing more clear. Grammarly is a Google-friendly program that also emails a weekly writing report that includes the number of words written (very motivating to students) and how many unique words have been used. A video about using Grammarly be found here.
Webinar: Helping English Learners Find Their Voice
This 45-minute video suggests strategies to keep ELs engaged in conversations about texts that will help students develop language skills and content knowledge simultaneously.
Visual Writing Prompts
Please share Visual Writing Prompts with your staff. This website provides interesting photos and writing prompts that teachers can search by subject, grade level, and genre. Or, try the daily photo writing prompts here.